A Quote Trail of Damian Barr ‘s Two Roberts

Submitted: 5th December 2025

A Word Trail of Damian Barr

The story of two Scottish artists – The Two Roberts is a love letter to MacBryde and Colquhoun, artists who tried to change the way the world sees. The writing is sublime and there are a few lines that really stood out, that tell the story in the most lyrical, often funny and always poignant way……

LONDON

“The barracks in St James’ Park are packed tighter than a guardman’s trousers.”

PARIS

“Each morning Bobby brings him charming little bottles of freshly squeezed orange juice from the cafe opposite and day -old croissants got for cheap.”

ROME, ITALY

“Locals in black Wellingtons splosh across the square, stopping in the middle to gossip. Hunched wet pigeons wait around on the colonnades.”

SMITHFIELD MARKET, LONDON

“Every day they met for heir shift by the market at Smithfield, no longer the bloodiest bit of The city. Francis idles in from to the butchers, windows filled with pigs and cows, their ribs open to the world, their organs arrange neatly on steel trays in front of them.”

GLASGOW

They are floating over Glasgow, The outer wall is all glass. Hundreds of panes stretch from the floor to the roof, which is also, amazingly, see-through. The whole corridor somehow hangs out pver the tip of Sauchiehall Street,

Giant cranes lining the Clyde turn to one another in conversation

The Mitchell library

“……rain crowns this people’s palace of stories According to a plaque out front, this is the largest public library in Europe. More miles of shelves than Venice has canals.”

It’s great to travel in books – and writing a few quotes that denote places can really act as little placeholders to remember your journey….

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